Current Affairs Quiz-September, 2020

Notes:
According to the Asian Development Bank, Asia’s economy will contract for the first time since the early 1960s.
The bank had earlier projected that the GDP would grow by 0.1 per cent. Now, it is estimated that Asia’s GDP would decline by 0.7 per cent in 2020 and would increase to 7.7 per cent in 2021. It also highlighted that the GD in India would contract by 9% this year.

Notes:
The Horticulture Department of the Jammu and Kashmir has launched the Flagship programme ‘Backyard Horticulture’ under CAPEX scheme.
The programme aims to promote organic fruit production for home consumption. Under the programme, three fruit plants will be distributed among the farmers at 90% subsidy. It increases self-sustenance and also preserves environment.

Notes:
The 10th Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) Group Meeting between India and the United States.
This meeting was held as a part of the Indo-US Bilateral Defence Cooperation. DTTI Group Meetings are held twice a year, hosted alternatively by India and the United States. During the virtual meet held this year, a Statement of Intent on Defence technology cooperation was also signed.

Notes:
The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package Insurance Scheme for Health Workers has been extended for a period of 180 days.
It is a central sector scheme that provides an insurance cover of Rs.50 lakh to health workers who would have direct contact with COVID 10 patients. The scheme was initially launched on March 30th this year for a period of 90 days. It was earlier extended to a further period of 90 days till 25th September.

Notes:
India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has exited from Sudan after the country has refused to pay for oil it lifted from the fields.
The overseas investment arm of the state-owned oil company, ONGC Videsh (OVL) along with its Chinese partner CNPC and Malaysia’s Petronas have withdrawn from the oil fields. The African country had not paid USD 430.69 million for the Oil it bought from the block since 2011.

Notes:
The Uttar Pradesh government has recently announced that it will give cows to the families of malnourished children in the state.
This programme has been launched as a part of ‘Poshan Maah’ (Nutrition Month) launched for the month of September across the country. The UP government would be carrying out this exercise under the ‘Chief Minister Destitute Cow Participation Scheme’.

Notes:
In the latest edition of the World Bank’s annual Human Capital Index, India has been ranked at the 116th position.
The index ranks countries on the basis of key components of human capital. India’s score increased to 0.49 from its earlier score of 0.44 in 2018. This year, the index includes health and education data for 174 countries, up to March 2020. It also reveals that more than 1 billion children are out of school.

Notes:
National Jal Jeevan Mission has launched an ICT Grand Challenge to create innovative and affordable solution to develop a ‘Smart Water Supply Measurement and Monitoring System’.
This Challenge has been launched in partnership with Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MEITY). Proposals from Indian Tech start-ups, MSMEs and other companies will be invited, to deploy at the village level.

Notes:
Indian Railways has decided to levy ‘User fee’ in addition to train fares in some major stations. This has been stated by the Railway board CEO VK Yadav.
The additional fee would be used to revamp railway stations and modernize their infrastructure in order to attract investments. It has been decided that only 10 to 15 % of the total stations would be charged with this additional fee.

Notes:
Union Agriculture Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar has been assigned additional charge of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.
This has been communicated by the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The erstwhile Minster of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal submitted her resignation from Union Cabinet, which has been accepted by the President.